NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament 2021: Championship Final

Tonight’s final game between the two remaining number one teams, Baylor and Gonzaga, is on CBS with al the pregame hullabaloo starting at 8:30 PM ET with tip off at 9:20. That leaves loads of time for making snacks. Baylor had a far easier time knocking off their opponent, #2 Houston than Gonzaga. The feisty #11 UCLA gave Gonzaga a real challenge that went al the way into overtime with a last minute 3 pointer just as time expired. Talk about edge of your seat nail biters. It was a close game al the way with the lead bouncing back and forth in between tied scores. Tonight should be a good game.

Gonzaga is seeking to become the first men’s team to finish unbeaten since Bob Knight’s Indiana club went 32-0 on the way to the 1976 national championship. The Bulldogs are also seeking their first N.C.A.A. title, though they have had plenty of deep tournament runs. They lost in the 2017 title game to a North Carolina team coached by Roy Williams, who announced his retirement on Friday and had three titles in his career.

Coach Scott Drew and Baylor are also seeking their program’s first national championship. The Bears are appearing in the title game for the first time since 1948. [..]

Even though Gonzaga has not lost since Feb. 22, 2020, against Brigham Young, the Bears have history on their side. This is just the fifth time since the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll began in the early 1960s that the teams ranked No. 1 (Gonzaga) and No. 2 (Baylor) will meet in the title game. Each of the previous four games were won by the team ranked second: Cincinnati over Ohio State in 1962, U.C.L.A. over Michigan in 1965, UConn over Duke in 1999 and Duke over Arizona in 2001.

Led by Drew Timme’s 25 points, Gonzaga put up 56 points in the paint against U.C.L.A., and the Bears will have to have an answer for that. Baylor is led by experienced guards and wings, and its frontcourt players Mark Vital and Flo Thamba are solid if not spectacular.

Baylor is led by an all-American junior guard, Jared Butler, who had 17 points in the semifinal rout of Houston, and another junior guard, Davion Mitchell, who dished out 12 assists with 11 points as the Bears won, 78-59. After last year’s tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, both Butler and the senior guard MaCio Teague tested the N.B.A. draft waters but opted to come back for another shot at the title.

These are the scores and winners of the Final Four.

These two teams will play for the Championship:

Baylor dominated this game from the start.

TMC for ek hornbeck